Welt for boots and shoes



W. B. ARNOLD, DECD.

A. I.- ARNOLD AND 1. a. srumv. :xscurons.

WELT FOR BOOTS AND SHOES.

APPLICATION man SEPT- n. 1919.

1,357,676. Patepted Nov. 2, 1-920.-

s3 a: J

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, OF NORTH ABINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS; ABBIE L. ARNOLD AND J. BUTLER STUDLEY EXEOUTORS @F SAID WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, DECEASED.

WELT FOR BOUTS AND SHOES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Nov. 2,1920.

Application filed September 11, 1918. Serial No. 253,495.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM B. ARNOLD, a citizen of the United States, residing at North Abington, county of Plymouth, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Welts for Boots and Shoes, of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts,

The invention to be hereinafter described relates to welts for boots and shoes. These welts must be of strong, tough, high grade leather to successfully bear the heavy duty of holding the stitching for connecting the welt to the inner sole and upper. The high cost of this grade of leather renders it important to employ as small amount of leather therein as practicable without sacrifice of necessary strength. A slight saving in welt material for a pair of boots or shoes multiplies into a big economy in the manufacture of large quantities.

One of the aims and purposes of the present invention, therefore, is to provide a welt requiring less width in the production thereof, and having as much, if not greater strength, than welts heretofore used. In carrying the invention into practical efiect,

the welt and stitch receiving channel may be so formed that the. inner margin of the welt when bent to present its grain face for engagement with the upper, will cause the inner edge of the welt to lie in a plane substantially flush with the flesh face of the welt, and thereby eliminate the necessity for trimming the welt, with a consequent saving in welt material. For example, a welt a yard long having a thickness of l," and a width of -1 usually costs eight cents. A welt of this size formed and provided with a stitch receiving channel embodying the invention may enable reduction in the width of the welt, thereby saving about one-half cent in the cost of a yard of the welt. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a welt having a deep stitch receiving channel with its bottom in such a position that when the inner edge of'the welt is bent for presentation to the upper, a substantial amount'of leather will be between the bottom of the groove and the surface of the welt engaging the upper, thereby providing strong anchorage for the stitching,

And another object of the invention is to providea welt which may be easily and perfectly bent to conform to the contour of the boot or shoe.

With the aforesaid and other objects in view, the character of the invention may be best understood by reference to the followlng description of one good form thereof shown in the accompanying drawing, wherein Figure 1 is a transverse vertical section through a completed shoe having a welt embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 on an enlarged scale is a transverse vertical section through a portion of an upper, its'lining, inner sole, and a welt embodying the invention, showing the parts as they appear prior to trimming the upper and its lining;

Fig. 3 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the parts as they appearafter the trimming and beating-out operation;

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through a welt having beveled inner and outer edges before the stitch receiving channel is formed therein;

Fig. 5 is a transverse section of the welt showing one of the slits therein in the production of the channel;

Fig. 6 is a transverse section through the welt showing the form of the channel-after both slits have been cut therein;

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the com pleted channel;

Fig. 8 is a transverse section of the welt.

Referring to the drawing, one form of welt made in accordance with my invention may comprise abody 1 (Fig. 7) of substantially uniform thickness, and having a flesh face 3 and a grain face 5. The inner edge 7 and the outer edge 9 may be inclined with respect to the faces of the body of the welt, and in the present instance, are in substantial parallelism, the construction being such that the welt will have an obtuse angle 1.1 between the outer edge and the grain face thereof, and an obtuse angle 13 between the inner edge and the flesh face of the welt, as will be notedin Fig. 4.

An important feature of the invention, as stated, relatesto the form and location 7 of the stitch receiving channel. In the present instance of the invention, this channel is cut a substantial depth into the flesh face of'the Welt with itsinner wall 15 substantially parallel to the inner edge of the welt, and its outer wall 17 curved or inclined with respect to the inner wall, and meeting the same to form a channel 27. The incisions producing these walls preferably cut'the' flesh face of the welt along linesa substantial distanceapart to form a channel having an ample opening. The lnnerwall of the channel is closely adjacent to the inner.

beveled edge oftlie welt, and leaves a thin lip 2l'betwe en them. 7

Any suitable .instrunientality may beemployed for cutting the channel described, but preferably it is produced by first making an incision 23' close to and in substantial parallelism with the inner edge of the welt, as will be noted in Fig. 5, and then making a second incision oblique to, and meetingtheincision 23, as will be noted in Fig. 6. These incisions may be straight, but

and its lining 36 are laid in the [recess formed by said lip and feather edge, and are bent inward to conform to sald recess.

The welt 1s thenbentto presentthe portion 37 of its grain face against the outer surface of the upper, and the inner sole, upper, its lining andthe welt are securely connected by the through and through stitching 39 embracing the {inner sole flange or shoulder 31 and "the bottom of the channel. lVhenthe inner edge of the welt is bent to present the portion 37 of its grain face forengagement with the upper, the inner' beveled edge 7 of the welt is brought tofa.

position where it isjin-a plane-substantially parallel and flush with the flesh face of the body of the welt, asfwill be noted in Fig. '2. When the welt is thus bent, the edge port' ijon'sqofthe walls of the channel will close around the stitchin'g'and may meet or nearly meet at the flesh face of'the welt, and the stitching will engage the bottom of the channel along line substantially midway between the flesh and grain faces'ofthe welt. The construction is such thata substantial bedy of leather will be between the bottom of the-groove and the grain face portion 37 of the welt the upper, and thereby effectively withstand the pull of the stitchon the welt. 7

Since the inner beveled edge of the welt is substantially iiushwith the flesh face thereof, it is not necessary to trim the inner portion of the welt, since the substantial portion of the welt which usu'ally'projects above the flesh face of the welt is absent. As a consequence, the full amount ofwelt material between the stitch receiving channel and the upper is utilized in resistin the pull on the stitching. The formation of the channel as described enables the location thereof nearer to the innerfedge' of thcwelt than has heretoforebeenpossible, and there fore, a welt may be used of a less overall width than hitherto required. l l'ii ssaving, although'srn'all inthe welt for single pair of boots or shoes, multiplies into a large economy in the production of large-numbers of boots and shoes. t will be noted that this saving is not obtained with sacrifice in strength of the welt, but, on the contrary, the welt has as much, if not more strength thanwelts heretofore used.

in some cases the portion of the lip 33 of the inner 'sole'and the portions of the upper and its lining projectingbeyond the flesh face of the welt,' nia y be trimmed substantially flush with said face, as will be noted in Fig. 3', or if desired, the trimming step may be eliminated, and said projecting portions may be bent over and flattened toward the inner sole in beati'ngout the' welt in the usual manner.

The'nthe filler 41 (Fig. 1) maybe laid on the inner sole within the boundary of the less stock need be removed in trimming the outer edges of the welt and outer sole. fact, the angle of the beveled outer edge may be such that the latter does not need to be "trimmed off, butis suitablyjformed in the rounding operation. a r

, ince the channel is formed to present an ample'opening, and extends a substantial "depth into the body of the welt, the flexibility of the welt is desirably'increased, thus permitting the welt te be readily' llexed about and applied to the shoe, and it fits more flexibly and easil to the shoe than a welt having a shallow c annel located a sub stantial distance from the inner edge of the welt.

By my invention there is provided a welt which may be made of less material than heretofore required, thereby eifecting an important saving in the high grade, expensive leather used for welts, but without loss of the necessary strength of material between the stitching and the inner edge of the welt.

It will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiment shown, but that various deviations may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is l. A welt having a substantially uniform thickness throughout the body portion of the welt, an inner edge beveled with respect to the flesh and grain faces of the welt, a deep stitch-anchoring-channel having an inner wall substantially parallel to the inner beveled edge of the welt and an outer wall inclined toward and to said inner wall, the

opening of said channel and the location of the bottom thereof being such that the por tion of the welt between the inner wall of the channel and the inner beveled edge of the welt may wrap about the stitching and pre sent said inner beveled edge in a plane substantially flush with the flesh face of the welt.

2. A leather welt having grain and flesh faces and a substantially uniform thickness throughout the body portion of the welt, and a stitch-anchoring-channel positioned sulficiently close to the inner edge of the welt to form a relatively thin lip having its end flush with a face of the welt, said channel having an ample depth and opening and located so closely adjacent to the inner edge of the welt that on longitudinally bending of the inner edge portion of the welt for presentation to the upper of a shoe, the inner edge will be substantially flush with the flesh face of the welt.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification.

WILLIAM B. ARMJLD. 

